After a lackluster even strength game, the Portland Winterhawks defeat the Wenatchee Wild 5-2 with four goals in the second half and go 4 for 8 on the power play. The Winterhawks are in sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League after sweeping their two games this weekend and defeating the Prince George Cougars.
Marek Schlenker saved 39 of 41 shots, Ryan Miller had a multi-point game, Kyle Chyzowski scored three points, and Diego Buttazzoni had two goals.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 1st 7:00 WEN Shaun Rios (Maddix McCagherty, Brendan Dunphy) 0-1 | Dunphy s bank pass up the left boards gets by Max P eni ka, leading to a Wenatchee 2 on 1, and McCagherty gets it across to Rios for a one-timer. |
| 1st 11:14 POR (PP) Diego Buttazzoni (Ryan Miller, Jordan Duguay) 1-1 | A great pass from behind the net through the crease by Miller to give Buttazzoni a wide open wrister before Brendan Gee could get over. Duguay from the boards passed it down low to Miller; Tyson Jugnauth was involved as well on the power play. |
| 2nd 4:07 WEN (PP) Miles Cooper (Evan Friesen, Lukas McCloskey) 1-2 | Ryder Thompson and Alex Weiermair can t clear a puck at the Portland blue line, leading to a shot at the top of the left circle by Friesen. Marek Schlenker gave up a big rebound to Cooper, who had helped win the puck at the blue line, and he put it in the open net. McCloseky also helped win the puck and got it to Friesen. |
| 2nd 12:48 POR Ryan Miller (Max P eni ka, Hudson Darby) 2-2 | P eni ka holds a puck in at the blue line and drops it for Miller, who scores on a shot from beyond the top of the right circle. Darby won a board battle and had a pass that was blocked up to P eni ka. |
| 2nd 16:21 POR (PP) Alex Weiermair (Tyson Jugnauth, Kyle Chyzowski) 3-2 | A great play by Jugnauth on a 5 on 3, taking the puck at center ice, splitting the defense, taking it to the right of the goal, and sending a backdoor pass to Weiermair for an easy goal. Chyzowski had a one-timer saved that rebounded out to center ice where Jugnauth collected it. |
| 3rd 2:45 POR (PP) Diego Buttazzoni (Josh Zakreski, Kyle Chyzowski) 4-2 | Chyzowski wins a faceoff to Zakreski, who whips a pass from the right boards to Buttazzoni at the left dot, and he wrists one into the top corner, a nice finish. |
| 3rd 17:43 POR (PP) Kyle Chyzowski 5-2 | Wenatchee on the penalty kill pulls the goalie to make it 5-on-5, but Luka Shcherbyna s centering pass from behind the net goes right to Chyzowski in the slot, and he turns and fires it all the way down the ice and in. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 17:15 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 6:24 |
| Tied | 23:26 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 12:55 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: The Winterhawks had to travel overnight to Wenatchee after defeating Tri-City on Friday. The Wild didn’t have to travel after defeating the top-ranked Everett Silvertips in overtime. The Winterhawks suspended Kyle McDonough for a hit during Friday’s game.
Portland defeated Wenatchee 15–7 in the first period, despite the fact that many of the shots were from outside and didn’t appear particularly dangerous at equal strength. Shawn Rios’ first goal was cancelled by Diego Buttazzoni’s power play goal, making the score 1-1.
Second period: The Wild took the lead with an early power play goal, but they were overtaken by Ryan Miller and Alex Weiermair when the Wild began to take penalties.
Third period: Portland led 4-2 thanks to an early power play goal. From there, their comeback was halted by a pair more Wenatchee penalties. With 22 shots at the end of the first, they were unable to draw any closer as the game came to a close. They then took another penalty, had to pull the goalkeeper, and Kyle Chyzowski completed it with an empty-netter.
How it was won: In a game where Portland’s best players didn’t contribute much at even strength, the power play, which went 4 for 8, was crucial.
Crucial stretch/moment: Ryan Miller and Alex Weiermair score three minutes apart to help Portland overcome Wenatchee 3-2. In 1:03, Weiermair’s power play goal after three Wenatchee minors turned the tide in Portland’s advantage.
Unexpectedly, Portland loses the final shot total, 41–40, despite having a comfortable lead throughout the game. Wenatchee is given credit for 16 shots in the final 6–1½ minutes. I’m not sure if that stretch’s quality really reflected the shots.
It should come as no surprise that the league’s top special teams squad wins 4-1, raising their goal differential to +25, seven goals clear of second place. The power play is keeping that number up, as it should come as no surprise that their recently poor penalty kill went one for two and their % fell once more.
Controversies: Power plays are always contentious when they are 8-2. However, none of the penalties were controversial on their own. As the gap increased, they were unable to locate any calls against Portland because of the large number of consecutive ones.
Sort of, the best team won. The game’s dependence on the power play made it strange.
Suspensions and injuries: Kyle McDonough sat. By Monday, we’ll likely know how long his suspension will last.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 2 goals | Both goals were on the power play, but his line was pretty good at even strength. |
| Marek Schlenker | POR | 39 saves-41 shots | Didn t face the quality that 39 saves would indicate, but had a solid game. |
| Ryan Miller | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | A very good and active weekend. |
| Miles Cooper | WEN | 1 goal | He helped win the puck and then was rewarded with the goal when he went to the net. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 1 goal, 2 assists | Had little impact at even strength, and still ends up with 3 points. It moves him 1 point off top spot in the league, and up to 2nd place in power play points. 8-game point streak. |
| Evan Friesen | WEN | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 1 assist | Also didn t have his usual impact, but still got a point giving him a 10-game point streak. |
| Carter Sotheran | POR | ||
| Shaun Rios | WEN | 1 goal | 3-game point streak. |
| Brendan Gee | WEN | 35 saves-39 shots |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan Dunphy | WEN | 1 assist | A good game, but a double-minor in the 2nd led to Portland s winning goal and turned momentum in their favor. |
| Dawson Seitz | WEN | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Luka Shcherbyna | WEN | For the moment, his 6-game point streak was snapped, but it looks like he s going to lose an assist he was credited with on Friday, so his streak was up before the game even started. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Wild | |
|---|---|---|
| Record |
27-16-2-1 (.620) |
17-23-3-1 (.432) |
| Goals/game |
4.1 |
3.3 |
| Goals allowed/game |
4.0 |
3.8 |
| Team shooting % |
.115 |
.109 |
| Team save % |
.884 |
.884 |
| Power play |
27.7% |
22.4% |
| Penalty kill | 76.6% | 78.7% |
| Power plays for/game |
4.2 |
4.4 |
| Power plays against/game |
3.7 |
4.0 |
| Outshooting opponents | 20-24-2 |
17-27 |
| After 1 period | 14-19-13 | 14-18-12 |
| After 2 periods |
18-22-6 |
13-19-12 |
| Score, last 10 games | 47-45 (+2) | 33-41 (-8) |
| Score, last 20 games |
92-77 (+15) |
68-71 (-3) |
The Portland Winterhawks
They haven’t played a game where they had to use the power play only in a long time. However, they can beat you in a few other ways.
Despite being the third seed, they are now only three points behind Spokane for second place. To a great degree, they still defy the statistics.
They have a major weekend ahead of them as they pursue the Victoria Royals and the Medicine Hat Tigers, who are in first place in the Eastern.
Wild Wenatchee
With the victory, the Kamloops Blazers reduced their lead for the final playoff place to one point. Their prospects of making the playoffs are probably going to be made or broken by their six-game road trip to the Eastern Division after their midweek matchup with Medicine Hat.
Next games
Medicine Hat on Friday, 1/31, 7 p.m. PST
Victoria on Saturday, 2/1, at 6 p.m. PST
Next away game: Vancouver on Friday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m. PST
Wenatchee’s next game is scheduled for Friday, February 14, at 7 p.m. PST.
Looking ahead: Everett, Friday, 2/21, 7 p.m. PST
